Bhubaneswar celebrates 68th Foundation Day

Bhubaneswar: The state capital Bhubaneswar is celebrating its 68th Foundation Day on Wednesday.

To mark the occasion, a parade was organised in front of the state Assembly in which the Speaker of the House Niranjan Pujari took the salute. 13 persons were awarded with Rajdhani Gourav Samman on the occasion.

Besides, a picture exhibition has also been organised at Jayadev Bhavan here. A number of cultural programmes will be held in the evening today to mark the occasion.

On April 13, 1948, the first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had laid the foundation stone of the city.

World renowned German architect and urban planner Otto Koenigsberger prepared the city's first master plan in 1948 for a population of 40, 000.

Since then, Bhubaneswar remains a celebrated model of modern architecture and city planning.

In the Smart City proposal, Bhubaneswar stood number one among the best cities of India with a score of 78.83 points

(With inputs from ANI)